The present invention relates to odour control apparatus comprising a container for containing solid malodorous material, especially, but not exclusively, grit recovered from sewage effluent.
Such grit is recovered from detritus and other grit removing machinery and is fed into a skip via a chute. Whilst in the skip, bioactive micro-organisms are able to break down the toxic materials, and odorous gaseous material thus released is oxidised by the surrounding air. However, during this process, the skip contents rapidly become malodorous and offensive to the neighbouring community.
The present invention seeks to provide a remedy.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to odour control apparatus comprising a container for containing solid malodorous material, and inlet means for feeding deodorising gaseous material over the solid malodorous material contained in the container.
The container may be open at its top, and a cover may extend over the top of the container and so create a barrier between regions over the solid malodorous material and the surrounding air.
The cover may comprise sheet material in the form of a plurality of segments to enable the cover to be extended over the container to cover it and retracted to provide access to the container.
The segments may overlap one another when the cover is retracted, but substantially less so, or not at all, when the cover is extended.
The segments may be provided with lips to act as abutment stops defining the limits to, which adjacent segments can be moved relative to one another in the cover-extending direction, and in the cover-retracting direction.
The cover may be in the form of a conch.
The cover may alternatively comprise flexible sheet material. It may be antistatic and/or water-resistant and/or air-breathable.
The apparatus may further comprise support means. These may support the sheet material in such a manner that it is slanted so that rainwater runs off it more easily than if it were horizontal.
The said inlet means may be provided in the said support means. The latter may also be provided with a chute to enable grit or other solid malodorous material to be poured into the container whilst the cover remains in place.
The container may be in the form of a skip.
The support means may comprise a backboard.
The deodorising gaseous material may comprise ionised air.
The cover may be provided with a drawable hem. Alternatively or in addition, the hem of the cover may be elasticated. Either way, a single operative can easily remove the cover to allow access to and removal of the full skip. This can then be replaced by an empty skip and the cover can then be lifted over the empty skip and the process repeated.
The present invention extends to a method of treating solid malodorous material comprising placing the latter in a container and passing deodorising gaseous material over it whilst it remains in the container.
In a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cover comprising rigid sheet material in the form of a plurality of segments to enable the cover to be extended over an article to cover it and retracted to provide access to the article, in which the segments overlap one another when the cover is retracted and do not overlap one another, or overlap one another substantially less when the cover is extended.